1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new structure of dividing rack for packing box and to a suitable machine for the automatic forming of said rack and its insertion into the packing box.
2. Description of the Related Art
When packaging several objects arranged side by side in parallelepipedal boxes, said boxes must be provided inside with a kind of grid designated as rack that forms within the box receiving recesses for the objects that are thereby kept mutually apart, wedged and protected. Said racks are generally made of double-sided corrugated cardboard and the existing methods of manufacture have a number of disadvantages.
For some configurations of racks, their cutting out from a cardboard flank does not allow a rational and optimum use of the material and it gives rise to a high percentage of trimmings and waste which adversely affects cost. In other instances the rack is made of several sections that need assembling by joining and/or pasting.
When these operations are made automatic, they involve extra cost and the inventory of materials and parts is difficult to control.
Either manual or mechanized assembling lacks functionalism and requires excessive time (if manual) or excessive space and investments (if mechanized).
A special type of rack has been disclosed however; it is cut out from a cardboard flank so that a mere folding operation forms a dividing grid suitable among other application, for packaging twelve bottles together.
The principle of this rack is illustrated by example on documents FR-A Nos. 70.09816, 80.07129 and 84.01794.
This rack basically consists of rectangular or square-shaped panels in one-piece configuration; they are divided by orthogonal or parallel cutting and/or grooving lines which, when the rack is given its shape, determine a double vertical central partition produced by the folding of two middle panels against one another, two double lateral partitions both in the plane and on either side of said middle partition which are produced too by the folding of two adjacent panels against one another and finally partitions that are orthogonal to the above-mentioned partitions and are made by single panels.
In the version of such a rack intended for the packaging of twelve objects, said single partitions are complemented by more single panels and said connection panels are complemented by three single panels in the same plane and raised at 90.degree. in order to be in parallel arrangement with said double middle partitions.
However these racks have the severe drawback not to be suitable for mechanical and fully automatic forming and installing since they lack the necessary means to assure a firm mutual holding of the various partitions in orthogonal arrangement when they are being formed and positioned, which is an essential requirement for any automatic packaging line.